In recent NBA rumors, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili reportedly considered all his options, which could have meant the NBA champion relocating to Philadelphia to play for the Sixers.
Manu Ginobili is a name synonymous with the San Antonio Spurs and their winning ways. While he’s been a longtime hero with the franchise, he was said to have considered all his options in the latest offseason, including going to the Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, the team from Philly that has been accumulating top draft picks while missing the playoffs every season was a “real possibility.”
According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Ginobili told The Vertical that he was drawn to the Sixers based on two of their bargaining chips. One was coach Brett Brown who had worked with Ginobili for 11 seasons in San Antonio. The other was the fact they were offering five times what the Spurs had initially offered him to play for one year. The Spurs had pitched $3 million while Philadelphia was offering between and $16 million and $17 million.
However, Ginobili ultimately chose to stick with his longtime team saying, “The fact that Philadelphia had a great coach and a person I appreciate so much as Brett Brown, made it more appealing in the case the Spurs didn’t happen. But the Spurs happened and they always had the priority.”
Ginobili taking that deal was said to have cost San Antonio in being able to sign 7-foot-3 big man Boban Marjanovic, but head coach Gregg Popovich would tell the media, “Losing Tim [Duncan] made it absolutely imperative that we keep [Ginobili].”
One would have to think long and hard before up and leaving a continual championship contender like San Antonio and heading to a basement-dwelling squad like Philadelphia. However, Ginobiliis also nearing the tail end of his career. Many other veterans have ended up on lesser squads thanks to the lure of money.
However, the Spurs know just how valuable an asset Ginobiliis to their team in terms of his experience and leadership. They had to give him a serious payout to keep him around on a team that also added Pau Gasol this offseason. Keeping Manu with the organization will help as they look to build towards another championship run in their first campaign after Tim Duncan’s retirement.
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